SCROOGED At 35
SCROOGED is one of the most disquieting, unsettling films to come along in quite some time. It was obviously intended as a comedy, but there is little comic about it, and indeed the movie’s overriding emotions seem to be pain and anger.
Since when are ghost stories supposed to be heartwarming? That is what Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is at its essence, after all. Not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR ghosts flit about with the miserly misanthrope, defying the laws of space and time to reform a man rich in money but poor in spirit. Hell, the original text is dripping with dark mordant humor, including some of the earliest lines:
Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Coffin-nails are rarely discussed in most upbeat works; it’s probably best to eschew an internal debate as to what is the deadest someone can be if seeking to be pleasant.
So it is baffling to see Ebert’s one-star review take SCROOGED to task for being so dark and upsetting. Make no mistake, director Richard Donner’s 1988 film is not perfect and certainly could use some tweaking. But I’d argue that this morbid meanness and disquieting atmosphere is a feature, not a bug, of this movie. It’s that manic unhinged aspect that combines with some genuinely creepy elements and harsh views to create something utterly unique that transfixed me for the past 35 years.
But we’re not here to talk about Roger Ebert or his reviews. Mostly. We’re here to look back at SCROOGED, which was released on November 23, 1988.
Written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue (from Dickens’ source material), the 1988 skewed holiday classic centers on Frank Cross (Bill Murray), president of the IBC TV network and ruthless corporate dick. He has a long suffering assistant (Alfre Woodard in the Cratchett role), a doddering boss (Robert Mitchum), a thwarted employee that dared disagree with him (Bobcat Goldthwait), a bunch of staff that are terrified of him, a neglected brother and sister-in-law (John Murray and Wendy Malick), and a great lost love of his life (Karen Allen). He’s rich, he’s mean, and he is overseeing the network’s massive undertaking of its own Christmas Carol adaptation. Frank is visited by the ghost of his former boss (John Forsythe), who foretells of the coming apparitions (Buster Poindexter, Carol Kane, and some terrifying ghoul) that will visit him on Christmas Eve. Frank guzzles Tab & Vodkas, attempts to evade a corporate rival (John Glover), and slowly becomes more unhinged with each spectral meetup. Until…
Look, you know the story. Jon Stewart used to have a bit where he talked about how every Christmas movie/special was the same: “Oh no, there’s no Christmas! But wait…” Lessons are learned, love blossoms, and there’s often at least one musical number somehow involved (at the very least, a very music-heavy scene or montage). But it’s the journey, not the destination with these warmed over premises. The details and deviations are what’s interesting, even when you know exactly how it will turn out. Does SCROOGED successfully sell Frank’s redemption? No, not really. But is the path from jerk to joyful still an entertaining one to take in Donner’s film? Yep!
While the production itself was allegedly fraught with tension and issues—Murray has discussed how he clashed with Donner who, Murray claims, always wanted the scenes to be louder and that there’s maybe one take of his (Murray’s) in the final product—that really doesn’t manifest in SCROOGED. Yes, Murray’s performance is BIG, but this is a story with multiple ghosts and time travel and even the stress of the holidays; is that really a fit for a quiet, subtle turn?
And it’s those fantastical, big elements that really propel SCROOGED. The amazing make-up F/X work on Forsythe’s character, the devilish look of Poindexter, the frozen corpse of an unfortunate houseless person, the collection of tortured souls housed in the Ghost of Christmas Future’s ribs, and much more ground the crazy in a tactile reality. And, more importantly for this indoor kid, this makes the film blend well into a horror feeling. These are the first Dickensian ghosts that feel like real supernatural beings, eliciting awe and fear from those they visit. I love MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL, but Jiminy Cricket doesn’t exactly inspire much more than an “awwww.” Similarly, the excellent MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL does some good work building up its spirits (particularly with the Ghost of Christmas Future), but none of it approaches SCROOGED and the makeup effects work of Thomas R. Burman, Bari Dreiband-Burman, Edward Jackson, and Robert Norin.
So you have the guy from GHOSTBUSTERS cracking wise while surrounded by impressive ghouls and delivering a (admittedly schmaltzy) heartwarming message about making your own miracle happen? This is was essentially teed up for this horror-loving kid who was also obsessed with comedy even at a young age. Yes, there is a darkness and a mean streak in SCROOGED, but that just makes it resonate a bit more. A long day’s journey into night to save a soul is probably quite an undertaking, so it makes sense it would be disquieting—especially when there’s an additional creepy element of the supernatural. But the holidays aren’t just joyful times and, 35 years later, SCROOGED still reflects that genre-blending take on life that remains an excellent annual watch.
Also…there’s no way Tab & Vodka tastes good, right? No way.
